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NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler on Wednesday urged the leaders of a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee to ensure that regulations meant for large entities do not negatively impact small businesses such as credit unions.

Thaler wrote the leaders of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management in advance of today's hearing on improving small business input on federal regulations.

"NAFCU has long supported legislation that would clarify that agencies must measure both the direct economic impact and the reasonably foreseeable indirect economic impact that regulations are having on small entities (including credit unions)," Thaler wrote in the letter to Subcommittee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla., and Ranking Member Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.

"That is why we supported the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015, introduced in the 114th Congress. The legislation would also require agencies to provide detailed analyses of impacts in both proposed and final rules, including estimates of cumulative economic impacts," he continued.

Thaler also touted NAFCU's support for Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) panels for CFPB regulation, but he noted the association's disappointment that the CFPB has not done more to address concerns raised by those panels.

Today's hearing is slated for 10 a.m. Eastern and will feature testimony from representatives of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Business Management Associates, Action Safety Supply company and the National Association of Manufacturers.